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The problem is not so much talking about ethics as the fact that we have not been talking about the benefits of ethics. Instead of the four freedoms that appeal to developers, we need a similar list that explains what advantages free software offers for ordinary users.

Want to know what the most used Windows applications are, based on a real-time survey of 75,000 software tracked volunteers? The good news is that it ain't Internet Explorer which got an ass-kicking from Firefox and Google Chrome.

We see blog posts and articles everywhere. They proclaim that Distro X has the most users. Distro B has the most hits on a site that lists distros. Distro C is the top because Linus or some other "Geek God" prefers it.

You see it all the time, a "product" that has a tiny percentage of the desktop market, and yet it's popularity is so evident. I'm not going to get into my thoughts on the future of Linux on the desktop, or what the percentage gains versus Apple looks like. What I'm interested in discussing, is why are people so crazy about Linux?

The first thing we can say about the Linux desktop in 2007 is that there are more users than ever. The Linux Foundation 2006 survey had fewer than 10,000 people signing in. This year more than 20,000 Linux desktop users reported in.

In a mildly childish attempt at putting the popularity of Ubuntu into real context, I've enlisted the help of Google trends to benchmark searches for "Ubuntu" against other words. Mindless spam or important sociological experiment? You decide.